A series in which Isabella is excited about everything that is happening at Growing Room 2019, so she sat down with some festival authors to hear about their work, and what events they are most excited to take part in. Learn more about the 2019 Growing Room festival by visiting our website, festival.roommagazine.com.
Reading Room
A mother's hands stack clean needles, latex gloves.
For our children, she says, for the lost ones.
For the ones we've saved many times before,
For the ones we hope to save just one time more.
Why, neighbours ask while politicians gloat.
Why chain the monster only to offer our throats?
Why save a life to simply hand them the knife?
Do you see, can't you see, why can't you see?!
“And if you are not a bird, then beware of coming to rest above an abyss.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
This is what I can tell you: On a June night in 1986, my mother drinks from a tall glass of ice water. The radio might be on. If it is on, she is listening to Patti or Luther or The Pointer Sisters or Whitney. She might be singing, voice off-key but still rising proudly up her throat.
it’s a drunkintheafternoon kind of day
wrung out acronyms come up on my keyboard
instead of my sister’s name
Currently on Newsstands
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Room 42.1, Magic
Edited by Arielle SpenceIn this issue:
Amy Louise Baker, Jenny Boychuk, Jessica Bromley Bartram, Monica Joy Claesson, Kess Costales, Sophie Crocker, Ruth Daniell, Alex Hall, Cody Klippenstein, Suzanne Langlois, Teresa E Lobos, Lynne M MacLean, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Isabelle Nguyen, Gaëlle Planchenault, Melanie Power, Natasha Ramoutar, Nilofar Shidmehr, jaye simpson, Cristalle Smith, Emily Urquhart, Yilin Wang, Hannah V Warren, Christine Wei, Lan Yao
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Interview Room
Award-winning writer and novelist Sharon Bala is here! In this episode, we chat about how Sharon makes a living as a full-time writer and break down which sources of income are actually the most profitable and enjoyable. We also discuss Sharon's stint of housewifery in England, whether or not there's a difference between settlers and immigrants, and why writers should not give up on literary journals!
Born female, Lorimer knew he was a boy from the time he was only four or five years old. But Lorimer did not fully come to terms with his transness until he was 50 years old, at which point he chose to undergo gender reassignment surgery. In this episode, Lorimer discusses why his choice to transition was so difficult, why he became disillusioned with police work during the Robert Pickton case, and what it was like to be pregnant as someone who never identified as a woman.
A series in which Isabella is excited about everything that is happening at Growing Room 2019, so she sat down with some festival authors to hear about their work, and what events they are most excited to take part in.
Reviews
Whatever, Iceberg chronicles an all-too-familiar queer romance interwoven with polyamory, single parenting, chronic pain, poverty, and aging. Despite the specificity of Ziniuk’s writing, the collection remains relatable for anyone who has ever been in a badly timed romance or burned by a lover.
While reading GG’s new graphic novel, I’m Not Here, I was reminded of a short story by Delmore Schwartz, in which the narrator goes into a cinema and, much to their amazement and dismay, f
Each of the fifteen stories, mostly populated by female protagonists at less-than-perfect moments in their lives, show the work of a generous writer committed to creating characters unapologetically being themselves in all their flawed, misguided glory.
Room with a View
7 Black Nova Scotian Writers You Should Be Reading
In addition to Afua Cooper and Shauntay Grant, two of the writers featured in “20 Black Writers to Read All Year Round”, Nova Scotia has been home to many Black poets and novelists. Here is a list of some of our favourite emerging and established writers from the African Nova Scotian community. (Photo: Abena Beloved Green).
We Got Next: Emerging Black Writers You Should Be Paying Attention To
At Room, we don’t just look to the past but we also look to the future and it’s looking very bright. Here are some of our favourite black emerging writers who you should be paying attention to. Image: Chimedum Ohaegbu.
